Suture techniques are used within the medical community to promote the healing of deep tissue lacerations as well as wounds that are the result of surgery. What is employed almost exclusively in the medical community is a surgical needle with a suture swaged on the end of a needle. This needle is preferred to the older method in which a surgical needle had an eye at one end through which the suture was threaded. The prior configuration suffered from a larger profile at the eye end of the needle from the rest of the needle, thus requiring a larger opening to thread the suture through the wound.
Problems associated with inadvertent needle sticks have been identified as a serious health hazard and are well known in the art of blood sampling, percutaneous medication injection and other medical procedures involving use of medical sutures and needles. Disposable medical devices having piercing elements for administering a medication or withdrawing a fluid require safe and convenient handling. Significant attention has been focused on needle stick problems due to the contemporary sensitivity of exposure to AIDS, Hepatitis and other serious blood-borne diseases. On some occasions during a suturing session, the surgeon will pass a used suture needle and suture thread component to other associates in the operating room for disposal. This handling is a common cause of needle sticks which can be very dangerous to the surgeon, operating room personnel, and the patient. Further, many surgeons handle the suture needle with their fingers at certain points during the suturing process to change positions of the suture needle holder or particularly during the first stitch which must be locked with a knot. This too is a common point where needle sticks into the surgeon's fingers or patient can occur.